Temple point guard Khalif Wyatt controlled the tempo, worked Syracuse’s zone like a puppet master, scored a career-high 33 points and led the Owls to a 83-79 upset of third-ranked Syracuse on Saturday.

“He’s such a smart guy, he knows how to work around (foul trouble),” Temple coach Fran Dunphy told ESPN after the game. “I thought he was just brilliant, to be honest with you.”

In a matchup of soon-to-be departing Big East member and a soon-to-be arriving Big East member on a neutral court at Madison Square Garden, Temple controlled the pace from the start. Wyatt had never even been in MSG before Saturday but left the Garden a star.

"I always wanted to play here because all the great players had a chance to play here," Wyatt said. "This was a chance for us to show everyone that Temple is a real program."

Wyatt didn’t do it alone. Forward Anthony Lee worked inside the Syracuse zone, getting short jumpers and offensive rebounds and scoring a career-high 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The latest win in that stretch game with the combination of Wyatt from the outside and Lee inside.

"We wanted to go inside and out and that meant me going up strong and fighting for rebounds," Lee said. "That's playing the Temple game."

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim will lament the Orange’s missed opportunities at the free-throw line, the team hitting only 19-of-34 for the game.

"They made free throws, we didn't," Boeheim said. "You don't like to say it comes down to that, but when you miss 15 free throws it's tough to win any game."

C.J. Fair led Syracuse with 25 points and eight rebounds. Emerging star point guard Michael Carter-Williams had a rough game. He hit only 3-of-15 field-goal attempts, only 7-of-16 free throws and finished with 13 points.

This was a big change for the Owls, just three days after a 10-point loss to Canisius. But it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. This is the fifth consecutive season that an unranked Temple team has beaten a top-10 club.

"I don't think we would have won today without the loss in the last game," Dunphy said. "Our guys did a great job today. I wish it was worth more than one victory."

The Orange led by two at halftime but never took a lead in the second half even though there were four ties, the last at 59-59 with 10:23 to play.

The loss snapped Syracuse’s 52-game regular-season non-conference winning streak. Boeheim remained at 900 wins, two behind Bob Knight for second place all-time among Division I men's coaches. Duke's Mike Krzyzewski has 938 wins.

"Wyatt was able to create a lot of contact and that got him to the free throw line," Carter-Williams said. "They didn't play off me and I have to get used to that. We have to learn from this. It's a long season."